The man, Seergan Alarkis that was his name, sat back in his chair. His knees pulled up, fat arms hugging his legs, peering at the Doctor over his dimpled knees.
'It is you.' Seergan said with satisfaction. 'I didn't recognise you at first but the voice, the accent fits. You've changed.'
'I've had some work done.' The Doctor replied casually as he peered about the room.
'You're taller too,' Seergan sounded jealous, 'amazing what they can do these days, my compliments to your doctor.'
Mouth twitching slightly the Doctor turned his back on Seergan. Hands clasped behind his back the Doctor shifted his weight onto his toes, stretching his legs briefly to emphasise his height before addressing the far wall. 'Enough idle chit-chat, it bores me. Where is she?'
'She?'
'You know who.' The Doctor turned his head slightly, anger beginning to colour his voice. 'Clara!'
Seergan sat up straighter in his chair, aiming for a more dignified poise although the soles of his shoes barely brushed the floor. 'Clara, Clara,' he rubbed his chin in thought. 'Nope, name doesn't ring a bell.'
The Doctor spun about, his fingers twitching before curling up into fists. 'Don't play games, I don't like games,' he warned.
'Really?' It was Seergan's turn to show a little anger. 'That's not how I remember it. You played quite a little game with me, ruining all my plans.'
The Doctor laughed in disbelief. 'You were planning on destroying an entire civilisation for profit, if memory serves.'
'I was doing my job!'
'Genocide is a job now?'
Seergan sneered at the Doctor's tone. 'Your one mistake, Doctor, is you should have killed me when you had the chance.'
The Doctor raised an eyebrow and refrained from mentioning that at the time he had intended to kill Seergan. It was just blind bad luck that the little megalomaniac had survived.
Seergan sneered at the Doctor's silence. 'I survived and decided that I would dedicate my entire life to destroying yours, Doctor. I did my research, I studied you. There was a time when I thought you were dead. But I knew, oh I knew you were a time traveller and all I had to do was find the right mystery that would entice you then sit back and wait.'
'Like a fat little spider in his very own web. Build it and he will come.' The Doctor said softly, 'how many years have you been sulking down here waiting Seergan? You're pathetic; I really need to improve my quality of stalker.'
Seergan slapped his hand down hard on the arm of his large oversized chair. 'You think you're so smart, you think you're so clever but you walked into my trap remember?'
'I remember.' The Doctor growled.
~DW~
'But it's a Sunday, what could you possibly be doing on a Sunday?' the Doctor asked as he watched Clara rush about the room.
'I have a thing.' She replied as she pulled the cushions off the sofa and looked behind them.
'It can't be a very good thing, if it's on a Sunday.' The Doctor surreptitiously picked something up from off the nearby table and pocketed it. 'Is it a church thing because you might want to rethink what you're wearing.'
Clara turned, her eyes darting about the floor as she absently rubbed her bottom lip before registering what the Doctor had said. 'What's wrong with what I'm wearing?' Clara looked down at her clothing, what was wrong with jeans and a tee-shirt?
'Remember the last time we went to church?' the Doctor raised his eyebrows, 'you're definitely overdressed.'
'I'm not going to church.' She looked up to see the Doctor rubbing at his earlobe. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. 'Where are they?'
'What?'
'My earrings.' Clara growled.
The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets, fingers touching Clara's stolen jewellery. 'No idea.'
'No big deal,' Clara took a band from off her wrist and began tying her hair back. 'It's only a picnic, I don't need earrings.'
'No, no, a picnic on a Sunday?' The Doctor pulled one hand out and waved it dismissively about, 'don't tell me you're going on a –'
'– date.' Clara finished for him. 'Yes, I have a date.'
'Well, I have a date too.' The Doctor declared. 'My date is the seventh Omat of the Festive Growing on the planet Sharn.'
Clara tilted her head to one side, curious in spite of herself. 'What's that?'
'That,' the Doctor took one small step towards Clara, 'is when the Tomb of the Mad God is finally found and opened.'
'Mad God?' Clara mirrored the Doctor's actions. 'Who's he when he's home then?'
The Doctor moved forward. 'Not a clue, always wanted to find out though.'
The distance between the two lessened as Clara moved forwards again. 'If there's a tomb, will there be treasure?'
The pair was standing right in front of each other at this stage. 'What do you think?'
Clara pulled on her lower lip, thoughtfully. 'What about a curse?'
The Doctor grinned. 'Almost guaranteed.'
Clara looked past the Doctor's shoulder and off into the distance. 'Sounds dangerous.'
'That's the plan.' The Doctor shifted his weight from foot to foot. 'So, what do you think?'
'Huh?' Clara glanced back at the Doctor.
The Doctor raised one hand 'Tomb of the Mad God, daring adventure, undoubtedly possibly potentially dangerous.' He waved the other hand, 'Boring old Sunday picnic date.'
Clara eyed each hand before breaking into a grin and pointing towards the one representing the Mad God.
The Doctor's grin matched Clara's. 'You won't regret it.'
~DW~
'There never was a Mad God, was there?' the Doctor asked Seergan.
Seergan grinned. 'Oh there was a Mad King who thought he was a god, tiny little despot with dreams above his station, he would have faded from history if I hadn't come along and spiced up the story a little.'
'Well it takes one to know one.'
Seergan's grin abruptly faded. 'I will not be mocked, Doctor, not again.'
'So,' the Doctor edged towards a bank of computer screens on the wall. 'You set a trap and I walked into it, clever old you. But now what?'
Seergan licked his lips. 'Now I watch you suffer.'
'Are you going to torture me?' the Doctor ran a finger over the thick dust coating the tops of the screens. 'Better men than you have tried.'
'Oh eventually, eventually,' Seergan replied, happily. 'But remember I've studied you, Doctor, I know you.'
'You think you know me,' the Doctor turned and held up the dusty finger. 'Just how long have you been here, Seergan?'
'Long enough, yes, long enough to realise your weakness.'
The Doctor's hand fell to his side and he looked seriously at Seergan. 'Which is?'
Seergan smiled and tapped at a control on his armrest. A single screen blinked to life showing a darkened room. Sitting in the room, shackled to the floor was Clara. 'Your weakness, Doctor, is that you have friends.'
~DW~
Clara and the Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS and stared out. All they could see was gently rolling hills, all the way to the horizon. There was not a building in sight, let alone any people.
'Lost Tomb of the Mad God?' Clara asked.
'Yes,' the Doctor sounded thoughtful. 'Maybe they haven't found it yet?'
'We are on the right planet?' Clara wondered out loud.
'Of course we're on the right planet.' The Doctor replied indignantly.
'In the right time period?'
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, 'Yes.'
Clara looked over at the Doctor. 'That sounded uncertain, don't give me uncertain. You said there would be a lost tomb, you promised adventure.'
'And am I ever wrong?' the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS, waving a finger back at Clara, 'don't answer that question.'
Clara followed him. 'Well,' she watched the tall grass flutter in the wind. 'Shame we didn't bring some food, we could have had a picnic.'
The Doctor sneered at the suggestion. 'Boring, no we just wait. The expedition will be along any second. Then we'll just attach ourselves to the group and,' the Doctor waved his hands out in front of him, 'adventure!'
Standing side by side the pair looked out over the hills. Really hills might be generous; hillocks would be a better description.
'This tomb,' Clara asked. 'Big is it?'
'Well it would mostly be buried underground; otherwise someone would have found it years ago.' The Doctor explained. 'But it's not the size that matters.'
Clara snorted in amusement. 'Men always say that.'
The Doctor frowned and glanced sideways at Clara. 'You talk about tombs with a lot of men?'
'What, no, I meant –,' Clara glanced over at the Doctor, unsure if he was being serious or not, 'never mind.'
Movement out near the horizon caught the Doctor's attention and he walked away from Clara, almost to the edge of the hillock they had landed on. 'Maybe we are in the wrong spot,' he said pointing towards the skyline, without bothering to look back. 'Looks like there's something going on out there.' Pulling out a small retractable telescope from his pocket the Doctor took a closer look. He could see what looked like the roof of a small building just poking over another bigger hill. 'Yes, I told you we were in the right place; the co-ordinates were just off a little bit.'
'Right place, right time,' the amusement in Clara's voice was clearly evident, 'totally wrong spot?'
The Doctor stopped mentally calculating the short hop he would have to perform to move the TARDIS and frowned. 'Can I help it if the historian who wrote down the co-ordinates was a pudding brain? It's only a few hours walk, give them time to begin unearthing the entrance. If we start now we should arrive in time for all the interesting stuff.' A startled gasp from Clara floated towards him. The Doctor smiled at the noise and answered without looking around. 'Do you good you're getting a bit rounder than usual, too many dates, that's your problem. You can work off some of that picnic food before you eat it.'
'Doctor!'
The anxious tone from Clara had the Doctor spinning about to reveal his friend standing with a gun pointed at her head, surrounded by – the Doctor quickly counted – six, eight, ten men.
One of the men waved a scanner in the Doctor's general direction. 'Binary coronary system.' He said, staring at the readout.
The man holding a gun to Clara grinned at the news. 'Big blue box,' he jerked his head towards the TARDIS. 'I say we've got our guy.'
The first man tucked the scanner away in a pocket and tilting his head towards Clara spoke. 'Come quietly, or we'll hurt your little friend.'
The Doctor dropped the telescope and, holding his hands out from his sides to show he wasn't hiding any weapons, sneered at the men. 'I don't deal with minions; take me to your leader.'
The leader of the group laughed at the Doctor. 'You're gonna regret saying that.'
~DW~
The Doctor looked at the image of Clara on the screen. She was trying to put on a brave face but it was obvious that she was scared. Oh Clara, he thought, not quite the adventure I promised you.
'You've gone quiet,' Seergan sniggered behind him. 'I wonder why?'
'Oh very good you have a hostage.' The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and took two steps back from the wall of monitors. Turning slightly to his left he addressed Seergan. 'Now what?'
'Now we play a game.'
The Doctor turned his head away from Clara's image and glared at Seergan. 'Is this the point where I beg?'
Seergan grinned back the Doctor. 'If you want to, but it won't make any difference. No, this is the game where you watch your friend die!' he pressed a button on his chair. 'Proceed,' he instructed.
The Doctor turned back to the wall of monitors. There was no sound but it was obvious from Clara's reaction that something was happening. He watched as she sat up straighter and began to scoot backwards until her chains stopped her momentum. The Doctor's eyes narrowed as Clara began to talk to someone off screen. He concentrated on her lips, although the picture quality was too dark and grainy to make anything out. Typical megalomaniac mentality, too cheap for decent equipment but no expenses spared on the gloating.
'Ready for the fun?' Seergan giggled behind him.
The back of a man appeared on screen carrying some sort of metallic stick in his right hand. The Doctor's hands clenched in his pockets. 'Brave heart, Clara,' he whispered.
'Sorry, what?' Seergan asked behind him. 'Are you begging already, we've barely started.'
The man on screen waved the stick at Clara causing her to jerk back in surprise. He waved the stick at her again a few times, each time Clara dodged left or right avoiding the weapon.
There was a grunt of annoyance from Seergan. 'I said proceed,' he snapped at his henchman via the intercom on his chair.
The henchman lunged forward and pressed the stick against Clara's shoulder; she shuddered and fell onto her back.
'Again,' Seergan laughed. 'Do it again!'
The henchman waited until Clara sat back up again before jabbing the stick into her stomach.
The Doctor watched as Clara cried out in pain. 'What you were too cheap to install sound?' he growled.
Seergan giggled at the Doctor's words. 'I think its more fun this way, don't you? The imagination just runs away from you doesn't it, as you stand there trying to imagine what your little friend is thinking.' Seergan watched at the image of Clara began speaking. 'What is she saying, Doctor, do you think? Is she begging for you to save her, is she cursing your name right now?'
'No,' the Doctor said calmly, as Clara was attacked again, 'she's trying to reason with your minion.' He turned to sneer at Seergan, 'Because that's the kind of person she is.'
'Do-gooders,' Seergan sneered back, 'you all make me sick,' he pressed the button and addressed the henchman, 'Step it up a little, I'm bored.'
The Doctor tensed as the henchman began a series of jabs into Clara; shoulder, stomach, shoulder, leg. 'You'll pay for this, Seergan.'
'I'm sorry what was that?' Seergan cupped a hand around his ear, 'I can't quite hear you.'
'You heard me,' the Doctor snapped, never for a moment taking his eyes off the screen. He growled as Clara curled up into a ball trying to avoid the blows.
'You're right, 'Seergan giggled, 'I did hear you, I'm just pulling your leg. Oh!' the tiny maniac suddenly sounded very excited. 'Maybe we could pull her legs off, Doctor, what do you think about that?'
In answer the Doctor dragged his right fist from his pocket and punched it through the computer screen showing the image of Clara.
'Brilliant!' Seergan clapped his hands together in delight. 'Do it again.' One of the other screens flickered to life, showing Clara and the henchman. Then another turned on showing the same image to the Doctor's right, then another and another; all scattered about the dusty screens on the wall.
'Oh I haven't had this much fun since I killed dear old Auntie Elms for her insurance.' Seergan watched as the Doctor flinched as multiple Clara's shuddered from the electrical pulses being inflicted on her. 'I should have bought popcorn and really made a night of it.'
'Stop it, stop it,' the Doctor pleaded, 'this is me begging now, I'll do whatever you want, just stop.'
'See,' Seergan sighed in delight, 'that wasn't so hard, all you had to do was ask.' He leaned down and crooned into his intercom, 'Fun times over, time to finish it.'
The henchman turned his head and looked directly at the camera for a moment.
'I said finish it.' Seergan snapped. 'Honestly you can't find good help these days, I blame the schooling system, don't you?'
The Doctor failed to reply as he watched the henchman walk over to Clara, the man hesitated for a moment before pressing his weapon into Clara's side and holding it there. The Doctor's hearts stuttered in shock and his breath left his body as Clara shuddered for several minutes before going still. The henchman stepped back out of view, letting the camera zoom in on the motionless form of the Doctor's best friend.
'Well I'm disappointed,' Seergan said behind him, 'I thought she might last longer than that, didn't you?'
'Clara,' the Doctor finally found his voice, 'her name is Clara.'
'Was,' Seergan corrected him. 'Oh well, better luck next time.' His voice hardened, 'I told you I would make you suffer, so many friends, so many ways to make you hurt. That mouthy one you had before, the one with all the badges, she still around? I bet she'd hold out at least twice as long as that one.'
As the Doctor continued to stare up at the now darkened screens, his shoulders slowly began to shake.
'Are you crying?' Seergan asked, 'oh please tell me the mighty Time Lord is crying!'
A low chuckle escaped the Doctor as he turned slowly to stare at Seergan.
Seergan swallowed heavily as he looked at the Doctor's grinning face. 'Your friend is dead, why are you laughing?'
The Doctor looked down at his bleeding knuckles. He absently pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wrapping his hand. 'No, wrong question,' he quietly spoke, not looking up, 'try again.'
Seergan seemed to shrink back slightly in his chair. 'You shouldn't be laughing, why are you laughing?'
The Doctor tucked the end of the handkerchief away and took four long steps towards Seergan. 'No, no,' he tapped the side of his head, 'think it through.'
Seergan gulped and finally whispered. 'Where did I go wrong?'
'There,' the Doctor stood back and smiled. 'That's the right question. Answer; you killed my friend.'
'But, she's your weakness.'
The Doctor shook his head. 'No, she's my strength. Have you ever heard of Demon's Run?'
Seergan shook his head at the sudden change of topic. 'No.'
'No, you wouldn't have, after your time. But an object lesson on what happens when you threaten my friends.' The Doctor turned and stared at the blank screen. 'Clara once called herself my carer, and she's right. She helps remind me to care about others.' He turned towards Seergan and his grin was wild and terrible. 'But you went and took her away from me, what do you think will happen now?'
Seergan shrank back against his chair. 'I didn't mean it.'
The Doctor strode over to Seergan and loomed over the little man. 'Oh I think you did!'
'No, really,' Seergan tapped frantically on the small keyboard attached to the armrest on his chair, 'it was all a little joke, look.' He pointed past the Doctor. 'Look!'
The Doctor slowly turned towards the computer screens to see a picture of Clara in the dungeon.
'She's not dead,' Seergan explained as the henchman came back on screen to wave a small device over Clara's body. 'I was just having a little fun.'
The henchman held the device up to the camera to show the readout. The Doctor moved over to the screen. The image was still grainy but he could see enough to guess the readout was for heartbeat and respiration. Clara was still alive; indeed he could see her beginning to move in the background.
'Just a bit of fun, see,' Seergan babbled behind him, 'no harm; well no real harm. You upset me, so I wanted to upset you. Call it even?'
'Even?' the Doctor turned to marched back over to Seergan. 'Even? You tortured Clara.' He reached out and grabbed Seergan by the shirt. 'I'll show you even.'
The Doctor pulled the little man from his chair and threw him across the room. Seergan hit the edge of a table and fell heavily to the floor.
'Argh,' blinking in pain Seergan looked over at the Doctor who had ripped the keyboard from the chair and was now moving over to the wall of computers. 'What are you doing?'
'Looking for Clara.' Using a combination of his sonic screwdriver and the keyboard the Doctor accessed Seergan's computer system. Images flicked across one of the screens too rapidly for Seergan to work out what they were, before finally settling on a map of his vast underground building. 'There you are,' the Doctor breathed, the tension easing from his lanky frame.
Using the leg of the table Seergan pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing at the throbbing pain in his side. 'So go get your girl,' Seergan waved towards the door, 'I won't stop you.'
The Doctor glanced over at Seergan, 'No, you won't.' His fingers flew across the keyboard.
'What –' Seergan's eyes widened in horror as he heard a recording of his own voice coming from out of a nearby speaker.
'Oh dear, oh dear you seemed to have activated the destruction sequence. You have ten minutes to leave the building before it all goes boom!'
'Let's see how fast you can crawl.'
Seergan screamed and grabbed at his knee as the Doctor stomped down hard on his leg. He flinched back as the Time Lord crouched down beside him.
'Now we're even,' the Doctor said, before rising to his feet and leaving the room.
